11/03/2014
Bear’s rollicking, suspenseful, and sentimental steampunk novel introduces Karen Memery (“like ‘memory’ only spelt with an e”), a teenage “seamstress”—that is, a prostitute—at Madame Damnable’s Hôtel Mon Cherie in Rapid City. This Pacific Northwest city of an alternate 1878 is home to airships, surgical machines, and other mechanical wonders that can also be put to horrific use. As Karen meets and begins to fall for Priya, another sex worker who escaped from evil pimp Peter Bantle, they learn that Bantle has more dark plans than brothel competition. U.S. Deputy Marshal Bass Reeves and his Comanche partner, Tomoatooah, also tie Bantle to the gruesome murders of some of Rapid City’s most vulnerable women. Bear (The Eternal Sky) gives Karen a colorful voice, sharp eyes, and the spunk and skills necessary to scuffle with bad types as well as to win over people whose help she needs. Her story is a timeless one: a woman doing what is needed to get by while dreaming and fighting for great things to come. Agent: Jennifer Jackson, Donald Maass Literary Agency. (Feb.)
The end of 2015 marks the completion of this blog’s first year of existence, and what a year to start with: we can’t remember the last 12-month period that gave us such a strong run of new science fiction and fantasy books, spanning every subgenre on the shelves. Below, we’ve selected 25 of our favorites—these […]
Novelist, poet, inventor, activist: Margaret Atwood is already a (Canadian) national treasure, and she’s not letting up anytime soon. She has a new book out, and her MaddAddam series is being developed for HBO, but her latest venture takes her into an entirely new medium: she’s penned an original graphic novel series for Dark Horse Comics.
This week’s new sci-fi and fantasy books are all about taking what we think we know, and showing us that we have no idea. From familiar cities (New York, Seattle) imagined in new ways, to short stories from Neil Gaiman that reveal that the clouds on the horizon sometimes have a darker lining, these books […]
Get ready, fans of alternate Earths: 2015 is going to be an excellent year. Whether it’s a Scandinavian-inspired London, a 19th century steampunk Seattle, or a Regency England with a Sorcerer Royal, this year’s new release landscape is littered with fantastic versions of our very own world. Here are 5 books that are waiting to take you […]
Karen Memory is the kind of book that grabs you by the ribs in the first few pages and doesn’t let go until you see the word “Epilogue.” Award-winning fantasist Elizabeth Bear has given us a breathless adventure story that’s a little reminiscent of a great episode of Firefly, with just a touch of Doctor Who—that […]